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Paul, I’d get it in the ground right away. These palms grow continuously here during the coolest part of winter so should do well for you there. Of my twelve flamethrower palms, six of them produced new red fronds between December and February. If your new one has been in sun or partial sun since before your purchase, it should be fine in the spot you’ve chosen. If you want to play it safe, you can drape some shade cloth over the palm while it’s settling in.

Never a dull moment in the garden with a dypsis louvelli and a Chambeyronia hookerii for a touch of colour.

Here is our latest acquisition, a C. macrocarpa brought from SoCal through the efforts of @Darold Petty and Keith Jaeger (thanks to you both!), in roughly its eventual planting location, full sun much of the day. It's our biggest $75 palm ever and I'm super happy with it. Of course I'm eager to plant it, but normally I would acclimate it in part shade for a month or so. But I'm considering planting it out sooner, for these reasons: It's generally healthy, but it looks like a plant that just endured a 400 mile trip in the back of a U-Haul during our hottest March heat wave in history. It's way overgrown for its 5 gallon pot. During transport, a lot of soil spilled out and the top 3" or so of bare root was exposed. I topped it off and have been watering heavily, but as you can see, there is still a lot of exposed root. Absent a heat wave, the sun isn't that scorching here. It's sunny and 65° today, and it's supposed to stay that way for a while. What does the group think? Plant out now or not? Or, perhaps, transfer it to a bigger container? TIA for all advice.

Recently I visited the Botanical garden of Rome and could observe the Nannorhops ritchiana. I thought it would deserve a video (actually two to get the single whole plant). Enjoy

I have two that I planted in pretty much full day sun as 1 gallons. It is going to burn, especially coming out of a greenhouse. Despite generally cool temperatures and decent humidity, the UV index gets pretty high here. Mine have been in the ground for close to three years and grow at a decent pace, but the leaves still eventually burn, though each new leaf is holding staying green longer than the last so it's getting closer to being fully sun-hardened I think. As Jim said, mine open new leaves at any time of year and in winter the red stays around for a few weeks which is nice.

Sharing seeds is a wonderful act of kindness on this forum. I have received quite a few from Sullivans garden and also @DoomsDave. . Freshness is key for success as some of Dave’s have already sprouted . The problem here , for me , is sending out of the country . The post office is very strict for most other countries. I mostly sow seeds from my own palms and that works out quite well . The Dypsis Decipiens that I sent out are sprouting for some of you , they seem to be a bit hard to germinate. I sent out hundreds of them and I am getting reports of some success. Harry

Customs and border security took the fun out palm seed sharing, we where not doing anything wrong in sharing a rare palm seed!

Home grown chamaedorea metallica seeds, 70 germinated from 70 seeds, the other ten seeds went to @gyuseppe, so waiting to see how many he gets, but so far 100 percent germination in Australia. Fresh is best!

A couple of weeks later and it is really starting to look like a flush as opposed to a few little pale green nubs.

Thanks to all! The deed is done. It was still rocking around on those roots a little more than I'd like so I staked it at the base. It gets pretty windy around here in spring. Let the burn begin!

This little Ceroxylon amazonicum endured a lot of stress to get to California eventually! I ordered it in 2025 directly from an Ecuadorian nursery. It ended up in Florida quarantine for weeks, then arrived in California bare-root, half-dead and bone-dry! I tented it in plastic and kept it in standing water for weeks. It's now putting out its second leaf. I've not had much success with this species in the past, but I'm trying again. This palm hates heat waves, so I'll probably keep it indoors in a pot for the future. Eventually it may end up at a Bay Area botanical garden like the C. sasaimae seedlings I grew in the past.

Just planted - 4/3/2024 ~1 year - 3/18/2025 8 AM ~2 years - 3/20/2026 8 AM

While we are on the subject of alogoptrea caudescens, here’s a couple floating around the garden!

Humming birds do love this Dyckia, but I was noticing that this one is blooming earlier this year than in "normal years". It sort of fits into a them of a number of posts. I was in the backyard and noticed a humming bird nest in my Chrysalidocarpus onilahensis. I think the abundance of Aloes and different species which bloom at different times are the big attraction for the humming birds. So perhaps in addition to thinking about species that attract the humming birds, think about which will flower at different times, to keep them in your garden.

It's really filled out—wonderful! You've got a great specimen there, Feng 🤗

Phoenix canariensis x roebelenii - 1 gallon Brahea armata x brandegeei - 1 gallon Chamaerops mutant - 1 gallon Sabal palmetto - 5 gallon Mule (Butia and Queen) - 5 gallon All of these were given to me except the mule, which I started from seed bought online. I'm in Santa Rosa, but could possibly meet up in a more central location. Next stop, Craigslist freebies, and after that, compost.

For the collectors here that are interested in hybrid palm trees, I have an online mail-order store with a few of my rare crosses. I'm certified to ship in-container to all lower 48 states and also internationally with phyto (extra fee). https://seabreezenurseries.com

So these coconuts were planted in October 25 gallon And I noticed something interesting today we’ve been doing a liquid fertilizer by a company and Lesco 13-3-13 Palm and tropical And we just got into this warm spurt with the rain last week Weeks ago they started doing the March trimming and I noticed that the trunks on these are now growing so quickly that they’re cracking the old boots and they’re on pace to be a 16 to 18 diamater trunks Nothing like the Maypan, which looks fantastic I was just curious if anyone same progress after the period of cold that we had in west Palm beach

Indeed he did.

This should be a good time to plant one . I don’t have the experience with them like Jim does but mine grows year round down here. They do burn a bit in full sun but lots of water helps . Mine is in full sun and it can get very warm here , about 20 miles inland . Since being on this forum and learning from the folks who grow them , mine doesn’t burn near as bad as it used to. Harry

It was great to see @aabell, @RiverCityRichard, @PalmJuan, @PalmBossTampa, @Jason Briscoe, @Jblume, @kinzyjr, and @SW_FL_Palms. At the meeting, mixed in with tons of folks that are not currently on PalmTalk. We hope to see you all again soon! The next meeting is being rescheduled due to damage to the original host's garden. At this time, we're still in the process of confirming the site(s), so look for a thread on PalmTalk in the near future. You can also check the Events section of the CFPACS Website, check our Facebook page, and join the society on the Membership section of our website. The meeting recap is available from the Publications section of our website. If you haven't visited this section, the amount of information and history provided is nearly unparalleled. This section contains links to the Cold Hardiness Observation Master Data, Hardiness Maps, Impact Freeze Maps and spreadsheets, NWS and WUnderground resources, IPS Webinars, the Orlando and Tampa threads here on PalmTalk, and our available newsletters back to 1990. A few photos from the meeting:

So, the new quest begins 😂, mission Illawarra🥂

Thank you my friend @gyuseppe for the rupicola seeds. Both seeds sowed side by side.

New pot was needed.

Well , yesterday I spent the day working on a section that had been cleared by my wife . There was a fern that I had planted that was taking a bit too much space and crowding a few other plants . A large Rhapis palm had to be trimmed back so we could get to the water valve . I spent a lot of time finishing up the work she started and spreading fresh mulch (wood chips) . The trunk of our large Archontophoenix Alexandrea is now fully visible and I could feel the sigh of relief coming from the garden . With fresh mulch , a bit of trimming , and time consuming cleaning of the beach pebbles ( while sweating my arse off!) things are back in order. Harry Our little beach pebbles river was so full of debris from all the wind we had this year , it took over an hour on my hands and knees to pick the bits out and rearrange the stones. I just love the bottle shape of the Alexandrea trunk now that the encroaching fern has been cut back. The large Rhapis is now trimmed and not taking over the side walk. The container holds the garden hose. This courtyard gets very warm in the afternoon and yesterday was no exception! Harry

I know Richard,if you weren't a good person I wouldn't have said it, there are good people here, but I want to tell you something that happened to me, to a person on this forum, about 15 years ago I sent seeds twice, as soon as I started writing here again, I contacted him to see if he had chamaedorea seeds, he replied and said he had them, but he didn't want to send them to me, I was very disappointed, but luckily I met you and other new people here who sent me seeds without asking for anything in return, fortunately in this world there are still people who have a heart

Iam confident you can germinate them, if I have spare seeds I don’t mind sharing them around, after all the another mafia gang member must look after the Italian connection!

Thank to you Konstantinos, I don't know how many seeds you sent me! The Chamaedorea klotzschiana seeds are all black, but I want to wait another month to send them, so they will be sure to be ripe.

Even a small balcony garden, it talks to you!

You learn to know your garden after a lot of years. The symbiotic relationship is a natural feeling. You create a unique animal habitat in your garden, after all we are an animal. In time your garden gets depth, a true gardener never stops planting and changing their garden. You even get familiar with the animals live in and around your garden. All you have to do is just look into the space you have created then you see the answers to gardening!

Your palms look very happy. What you are doing is obviously working well. However, it looks like you are cutting the oldest fronds off while still green. I would recommend not doing that until they are brown. I see that you have a walkway and that is a valid reason for cutting. Maybe just cut that side? The less you cut, the more the palm will appreciate it. As for the width of the base, I planted 3 of the same germination batch and each one was a different size. One was huge compared to the other two so that’s just the variety of nature.

Plants feel your energy, you cut them and they feel it. A true gardener grows with his garden, it tells you where to plant new plants, a garden is a true biosphere created by the gardener. Plants know who we are they are grooming us knowing one day they will get the chance to eat us. So the next time you look at your garden just so you know that garden has other plans for us as we all know dust to dust ashes to ashes make good fertiliser! I think like a plant when in my garden, you water your plants and you can see a certain vibrational energy. I bring a new plant home and say to that plant welcome to your new home, then say to garden say hello to your new friend. It’s not crazy it’s being in tune with Mother Nature! Richard

Yep, that's an embryo!

First one has a lovely honeysuckle fragrance

They are a fast growing palm, I used them as pioneer palms in my garden originally, creating that much needed canopy. You think there fast in your area, should see them in habitat growing.

At this point I shall grumble going into winter and all those new varieties iam zone pushing with, well we know what happens to some of those intolerant of cold palms, compost heap!

I would go so far as to replace the word "relatively " with "extremely " when describing how mild this winter was in the far west and south of the US. Deespite a few major storms delivering snow to the southern Sierra Nevada range, there have been extended periods of warmer than normal weather between them. My son lives in the Eastern Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes and advised they are expecting temps to rise to 75 in town on Monday, which is crazy warm for this time of year there. The storms that delivered rain to San Diego this winter were mostly accompanied by warmer temperatures this winter too, with heat waves between storms. I have posted about plants blooming earlier than usual since late Autumn beginning with winter blooming Laelia orchids. I am not alone in noticing this as a recent post from Phoenix about early Plumeria flowering pointed out. All through winter my wetsuit selection has been confirming the warm Pacific ocean temperatures. I only wore my thickest wetsuit a couple of days this winter because the coastal ocean temps only dropped below 60 degrees here for short periods instead of several weeks. As winter ended, several records for highest high and highest low temperature were broken for the month of March in places like Palm Springs and in some cities in San Diego & Riverside county mountains and and inland valleys. Bottom line, I think saying it was an extremely mild winter in the southwest is justified. Spring is starting with over 20 record highs broken on March 20th from Santa Ana to Big Bear and down to Palm Springs, and from Chula Vista up to Alpine and over to Borrego Springs further south. So we begin with extreme weather if record breaking conditions qualify as extreme.

I planted this Hospita a couple of years back from a 7g. Soil was loose, and I inadvertently busted off a couple of big carrot-like main roots. Planted in full all-day sun, gave it plenty of water and fertilizer…. no ill effects. It’s now 8 feet tall and has done great. You have to be careful, but I’m not sure Copernicia are really as root sensitive as people say.

I can vouch for this vendor as well. I purchased one 8 years ago and have been very impressed, both with the color and growth rate. Eric does offer smaller, shippable sizes as well. And yes, it does have Jubaea blood in it's DNA, I confirmed this with mine when it flowered this year, as many of the flowers had more than six stamens.

Ahhh and why did I get out the ladder? See below:

We grow many bromeliads in our garden, including those that produce a very short flower stalk, such as any of the various forms of Aechmea recurvata. Though the flowers are more of a Violet color, the flower stalk blushes bright red (often the whole plant gets pretty red), which I think would be a beneficial adaptation to attract hummingbirds. I know for some Aechmea, hummingbirds are their primary pollinators, though I'm not sure for this species. If you have hummingbirds around, which bromeliads attract them when in flower? Do any of the "short-stalked" species deliver? Some photos below, to make things more fun. You'll notice many of our bromeliads are still immature. Neoregelia marmorata Racinae (Tillandsia) fraseri Dyckia marnier-lapostelii, very very slow to establish, but now putting out a few pups Tillandsia raackii Tillandsia hildae Puya mirabilis Tillandsia neglecta and a couple clumps of T ionantha showing a single flower Aechmea racinae Aechmea recurvata var recurvata forming a flower Same clone, but with a mottled appearance A recurvata var rubra, post-bloom, each with a single pup Same variety, this one getting ready to push what looks like a very small flower Aechmea recurvata var benrathii

I have some Dyckia with orange flowers that seem very popular with th humming birds every year. I don't recall the species or hybrid names. The plant below is in bloom right now. Puya miribilis is a consistent bloomer every year but the yellow green flowers aren't the most popular with humming birds. The turquoise flowers with orange in the center of Puya alpestris definitely attracts humming birds. The problem with both subspecies of Puya alpestris is they don't bloom very frequently. I have had one bloom each on the two clumps over 15 years. One on each ssp.

The big D. rariflora specimen.. Offset in w/ Boswellia sacra D. choristaminea.. Had been in a 1gal for approx. 3 or 4 years before i finally repotted it.

D. rariflora is probably the " nicest " Dyckia you can get your hands on... Leaves may be fairly rigid/ tips a bit pointy, but, no spines along the leaf margins at- all-.. Is also tough as nails.. When i repotted my specimen, a smaller offset broke off w/ out any apparent roots. Stuck it in a pot w/ my remaining Boswellia sacra where the soil is basically sand and Turface MVP.. Barely water either and ..While it did sit not seeming to do much for several months, is moving -a bit faster- now. Doesn't seem bothered by sitting where it gets more sun than the main plant either, and neither has flinched w/ those brief 33 -29F morning lows we can see in January. Bigger plant that went into a 16" wide / 9" deep clay pot? is quickly filling it.. Soil is basically Turface MVP, wash grit, Pumice ..and some Cocopeat.. D. choristaminea has leaf margin spines, but they're tiny and seem pretty flexible / brittle -compared to many other Dyckia i've seen / handled at least.. It too seems to really like the chunky soil i dropped it in when i repotted it last year.

Thanks for your input, I have just sourced some seed of Pitcairnia ringens. I'm not growing Vriesea simplex, but I do grow a small plant of the somewhat similar in appearance Aechmea racinae. Nathan, I haven't seen this one available locally, but I have ordered a small plant from the same Nor Cal seller I'm getting the Pitcairnia seeds from. It doesn't look too nasty either, which of course makes weeding less arduous (and less painful). I missed it last year, but I intend to check out the SF Botanical Garden's bromeliad plant sale this year. Their offerings are hit-or-miss, but when the SFBG has uncommon to rare plants, they tend to price them very reasonably and don't make a big fuss about it.

very worthy topic. catering to hummingbirds is an extraordinarily noble endeavor. in terms of bromeliads, vriesea simplex and pitcairnia ringens come to mind.

Between Dyckia rariflora and choristamina, Hummingbirds will fight over a preferred spot nearby when rariflora is in bloom.. When it decides to flower, hummers will also visit chioristamina, ..but for the moment, rariflora is the " it " Bromeliad for them in the yard.. Recall seeing plenty of hummingbirds buzzing around the Puyas at the Huntington as well.